Improving the Preparation for School and District Leaders
In many schools and districts, leaders are lacking the necessary skills and preparation for the roles to which they are assigned. Improving the preparation of school and district leaders prior to hiring or promotion can help schools and districts accomplish the following goals:

Leadership Initiative (formerly CSLA)
Because high-quality leadership makes higher-performing schools.
For students to thrive, they need skillful teachers; for schools to thrive, they need skillful leaders. But in this era of reform and high-risk accountability, it is becoming increasingly difficult for administrators and teachers to meet — let alone exceed — school, district, and state standards.
WestEd’s Leadership Initiative helps administrators and teachers rise to this challenge. Formerly the California School Leadership Academy, the Leadership Initiative offers seminars, materials, consulting, and other services that create and strengthen leadership skills.

Managers Forum
This site provides terrific activities that can be used to build teams and facilitate better meetings.

Superintendents Network
Superintendents' Network
The Superintendents’ Network is a clinical study group comprised of twenty-two superintendents guided by Harvard University professors Richard F. Elmore and Lee Teitel and focused on improving instructional practice.
The participating superintendents meet 10 times per year for 5 hours to discuss ways to improve student achievement and connect Elmore’s theoretical work about accountability, distributed leadership and professional development to their actual practice.

TO INCREASE DISTRICT LEADERSHIP CAPACITY
Leadership is directly linked to both teacher effectiveness and student performance and responsibilities of education leaders now surpass what individual administrators in schools and districts can be expected to carry out alone. Therefore, it is necessary to develop sustainable systems that develop and support high quality leaders throughout their professional careers.1 The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO)2 through its State Consortium on Education Leadership (SCEL)3 is highly committed to